29.5 pounds!

This just in - Freddie reports that Ruby's weekly weigh-in shows her at 29.5 pounds! That is amazing - and all of the credit goes to Freddie for taking charge of the doggie diet & exercise plan. Ok, some credit to Lady, too. Ruby just wants to keep up with her on the trails these days. I wonder if I can turn this into a Big Idea...

Who's the best kisser?

Sunday, September 30, was the annual Danbury Animal Welfare Society Walk for Animals. This year I had lots of help walking and raising money. Tara, Dan, P, E, & F joined Lady, Ruby and me on our 1.5 mile walk in the lovely village of Bethel, CT.

Because of my work assignment in Calfornia, I flew to CT on Friday, did the Walk on Sunday, and then flew back to Cali. It was totally worth the hassle of traveling to spend the weekend with my peeps and pups - especially when Lady brought home the blue ribbon in the 'Best Kisser' contest - yay Lady!!

Livin' Large

Snouts and Kisses is the equivalent of a luxury spa retreat for dogs. The picture here was sent by Lynne and Ellen while Lady and Ruby were their guests. They had an extended stay as Freddie spent 10 days with me in California.

I was a little worried that Ruby's snoring would keep everyone awake at night, but Lynne said that the 'snore award' went to a Maltese about 1/3 the size of Ruby.

Speaking of size, she's down to 30.5 pounds - Freddie's doggie cross-training and diet program is really working!

I'll be home next weekend for the first time in a month - can't wait to see my girls!!

When a 3-legged dogs swims, is in it a straight line?

Our mystery has finally been answered. Lady swims in a straight line (So there, E!) We saw it with our own eyes yesterday when Lady swam in the Lake:

Ruby was under the impression that she could walk on the lily pads - see how well that worked out for her:

These pups were tired after a day of fun at grandma's lake house!! So tired, in fact, that Lady almost slept in the car on the way home.

The continuing adventures of Ruby Phatz

Ruby is now in a groove - losing a half pound per week. She's now at 33.5 pounds - with about 13.5 to go. I know we'll eventually get there. What's great is how active she is. Yesterday, Freddie took her running with Lady on the Yellow Trail at Richter. It's not a really difficult one, but it is up hill and through the woods. He said she kept up with them the whole way - which is difficult because Lady is one fast tripod!!

Last weekend, I took her to see a canine physical therapist. Her name is Gale Henderson and she is amazing. Her business, Paws and Paddle Canine Conditioning, is in a great setting up in New Milford, CT. She has a room set up to do evaluations and treatment for the dogs - it has all sorts of things for the dogs to walk up, down and over, and she even has an underwater treadmill. You can sort of see the room in the picture here. Gale said that Ruby is very weak in her back legs - especially her hamstrings. Her luxating patellas are also a concern, so it's important to keep up with the weight loss, stretch out her hip flexors, and build the strength in her back legs. I have a set of exercises to do with Ruby, including putting a spring-loaded rod across the doorway and having Ruby jump over it.

Everyday Steve Irwins

In the past couple of days, I've witnessed some of what I'm calling "Everyday Steve Irwins" - regular people who make a point of living in harmony with the wild animals in our neighborhood. Here's what I'm talking about:

Monday, 7:12 am, driving to work: I took a right out of Autumn Drive and noticed a deer bounding across Aunt Hack Road. I slowed down, but noticed the car coming toward me had stopped AND was wildly flashing his lights at me. Anyone who grew up in the country knows that there are always at least 2 deer, so the driver was making a point to warn me. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the second deer came across the road. The other driver and I went on our merry way, pausing to wave and give the 'thumbs up' - acknowledging our pause.

Tuesday, 5:45 pm, on my way to PT. I drive on a lovely back road (yes, they still exist here) and, as I'm passing the pond, I see a pickup truck stopped in the road. The driver is moving something off the road and into the grass by the pond. My first thought was 'road kill' but then I realize he's moving a little turtle to safety. By crikey, mate, good show!

All you everyday Steve Irwin's out there - keep up the good work!

34.5 pounds and loving life!

Ruby is feeling fit and frisky - her last weigh in showed she's lost another 2 pounds. At 34.5 pounds, she's hardly done with her diet, but I can see she's feeling better. She has a lot of energy and is very, very playful.

She does show a love for chasing cars. Very bad and needs work - we can't run the risk of Ruby sushi.

Ruby's "before" photo

Ok, this is how Ruby looked when she first came to stay with me:

It's too bad this photo doesn't show her tail. When people see her tiny little head, rather LARGE body, and small tail, then it's easy to see how obese she is.

I took her to the groomer yesterday and she got a puppy cut for the summer - now all of her flab is easy to spot. Kind of like mine when I'm at yoga class - but seeing it just makes me work harder. I hope that trick works on Ruby, too!!

dat-de-dah.......Ruby Phatz!

So much has happened since my last post! For starters, our "pup" is almost 2! Her previous family sent her paperwork and her birthday is July 9, 2005. Amazingly, that is 3 days before we officially adopted Lady - is that a sign?

She's 1.5 pounds lighter - and about 17 more to lose. Dr. Feinman said that 3 - 4 pounds/month is a safe rate, and we'll get her there with diet and plenty of exercise. She does fetch the tennis ball, so we've taken to playing outside after dinner. That has the added benefit of tiring her out and she sleeps very well. We're in training for the Danbury Animal Welfare Society's Hound Hike at Tarrywile Park on June 3.

Did I say sleep? Of course she is now hopping up the steps at night and sleeping in our bedroom. The first few nights were shaky - Miss Lady was none too happy - but they've worked it out. Lady still has "on the bed" privileges while the little one stays on her own doggie bed.

And, finally, she has a name - Ruby Phatz. Ruby is the name of a hapless house maid in the series Upstairs Downstairs, and Phatz is, well, because she's got plenty of it (for now).

Around the block!

I left for the office this morning around 9:15 and got home around 5 - so it was a long day inside for Lady and the Pup. When I got home and took them outside, she seemed to have a bit more pep in her step, so when we got to our 1/3 around the block spot - we just kept going. Her legs weren't so wobbly and she appeared interested in where Lady was headed.

Once we rounded the corner, though, and she realized where we were, she made a bee-line for home! It was like watching Street Sense move up from the 19th position to win the Kentucky Derby!

She didn't eat her dinner tonight but isn't begging for food. Maybe in the morning she'll be hungry...

Bilaterally fluxating patellas

Puppy Fatz is certainly finicky about her food but I've just discovered that she likes almonds! And she had most certainly found her voice - just try approaching the house! Now I have 2 watch dogs!

We've made it only about 1/3 around the block and then have to turn home because her back legs get very wobbly, especially her left rear leg. Her medical chart says she has "bilaterally fluxating patellas" - and I can see her patellas fluxating the farther we get from home. But, as soon as we turn around to head back, there's a little pep in her step.

Lady has little patience, although she's decided that she must have her leash on if PF has hers on - and I have a lot of work to do to master the 2-dog walk (especially with Lady Roadrunner).

I've been able to work home the past two days, so the pups have had a lot of outside time. Tomorrow it's back to the office - we'll see how they do in the kitchen/mudroom together all day!

How does a puppy get to be 20 lbs overweight?

Last week I got an email from Kim with this subject: "Does Lady want a little sister?" Uh-oh, I knew I was in for it. Attached to the email was a picture of the happies - and fattest - little puppy I have ever seen. Her name is "Tina." She's a 7 month old Sheltie/Border Collie mix. She weighs 38 pounds - her ideal weight is closer to 20. She was surrendered by an elderly couple who obviously replaced exercise with food. I've never seen a puppy so obese.

I resisted at first - Lady has been the center of our household for 2 years now, how could we bring in another dog? Plus, she isn't always a 'lady' when it comes to spending time with other dogs (although she does great on her days at Wags). No no, we just couldn't do it.

Then I went to DAWS to pick something up and who was in the Real Life Room with Kim - little (well, not so litte) Tina. What a sweetheart. So full of kisses - but so out of breath! And her back end looked so unstable - carrying around all of that weight was obviously affecting her hip and knee development.

A few days later I took Miss Tina to Tail Waggers for a bath. I did the self-bathe - Jon and Terri got me all set up with the oatmeal shampoo and the groomers even clipped her matted feet up before we put her in the tub. Oy! The slippery pup tried her best to get out of that tub - good thing she was safely clipped to the leash! The filth came pouring off her and I could tell that my scrubbing felt good on her flaky skin. She wasn't a big fan of the dryer, so I did the best I could and then we continued our field trip...

Next stop was at Holly's to say hello and walk around the block with Reena. Tina huffed and puffed about 1/4 around the block and then sat down. Exhausted. It took us a l o n g time to get all the way around. After a drink of water, it was back in the car and back to DAWS.

I couldn't get her out of my mind. Because of what I'd been through with Lady, I knew I could help her. She wouldn't get the attention she needed at the shelter and she couldn't just go to any home. This dog needs to lose 20 pounds - more than half her current weight!

Freddie and I talked it over and agreed we could do it. Kim and Theresa brought Tina over on Thursday, May 3, to meet Queen Lady - it went surprisingly well. Kim and Theresa headed back down the hill and Tina stayed here with us. They left a crate for her, but that lasted about 2 days before I put a second dog bed in the mudroom.

I haven't taken Tina all the way around the block yet - just around the yard. Her hips and knees are wobbly because of all of the weight she's trucking around. We tried a hike at Tarrywile today but had to stay at the barn while Lady, Freddie, E, Dan and T went on ahead. I walked her - rested - walked again - rested. She's been very playful with toys - and now Lady has a renewed interest in tennis balls she abandoned last Fall.

According to Kim, Tina was hand fed a lot of table scraps and didn't show much interest in the dog food at the shelter. I started her on the Bravo! diet. The first night she ate, but didn't show much interest the second day. I wasn't worried - Dr. Feinman told me that a dog will eat when it is hungry enough. Yesterday she ate some raw chicken mixed with a little cooked chicken. This morning - Sunday - she ate a little of the Bravo! chicken blend. She and Lady had marrow bones in the afternoon - and then she ate the Bravo! chicken with a little cooked chicken as bait.
I'm surprised to report she is housebroken - so far no accidents.

Since Tina arrived at the shelter, no one had heard a peep from her. No barks. I'm happy to report that within one day of being with Lady, the pup is barking happily. She wants to play, she wants to run around and roll in the grass - I need to get this weight off of her so she can do that!

It's not going to be easy and I know it's going to take a long time for her to shed 20 pounds. I plan to get her bloodwork done (rule out thyroid and/or diabetes), take her to see Gail Henderson at Paws-n-Paddle Canine Conditioning (Gail is certified in canine PT and has a pool with an underwater treadmill), and take Miss Tina to see Dr. Feinman.

She's sound asleep at my feet right now. All of the fresh air, yummy food, playtime, and love, has tuckered this little creature out!

Now, about that name...Tina just doesn't seem to fit. More on that another time...